Monday, October 7, 2013

My lovely daughter, Lauren created these yummy snacks for her clients. Lauren works in the field of holistic nutrition in Los Angeles. Please visit her website Haasholistic.com for wonderful tips for living a full and delicious life. We are all so proud of her accomplishments, she is truly our inspiration !

Ingredients:
4 apples
cinnamon, to taste
nutmeg, to taste
Truvia (optional)
nut butter
unsweetened shredded coconut
Directions:
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Slice apples into 1/4 inch thick half moons. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and Truvia (optional). Place on a cookie sheet, in one layer, with space between the slices. Cook for 45 minutes, then flip the chips and cook for another 30-45 minutes, or until desired crispiness has been reached!

After the apple chips cool, place 1-2 teaspoons of nut butter between two slices, sprinkle with unsweetened shredded coconut and enjoy.

TRAIL MIX TRUFFLES

Ingredients:
2 cups, Trail mix
2 tablespoons, unsweetened cacao
1 tablespoons, coconut oil
salt
Truvia/Stevia to taste
Directions:
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and roughly mix ingredients until they are about the size of small pebbles. Remove from the food processor and make into truffle balls with about 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Friday, August 2, 2013

It's pretty easy to jazz up ho- hum dinners with these tasty sauces. The Herb Goddess, The Spicy Tomato Jam and Lemon Compote compliments summer grilled fish, poultry, steaks and vegetables. I can safely say, any dish you serve smothered with these condiments will add layers of deliciousness. To test my theory, I decided to make mixed grill, last night for a group of friends. On the menu, Rack of Lamb, Quail, Grilled Ribeye Steak, Whole Branzino, Stacked Vegetables and Grilled Artichokes. The idea was to present three sauces in cool-looking canning jars ( the jars in the photograph are from William Sonoma) with the hope that everyone would try dollops of each condiment. Each condiment has ingredients that compliment each other. Lemons and olive oil , garlicky tomatoes and mixed herbs, you know the old adage, what grows together goes together.These little basic sauces make basic ordinary foods come alive using a whisk, a fry pan and the food processor. Most important, they are easy to make, can be made ahead of time and each stores well in the refrigerator. Remember "The Peterman Catalog"? Mr. Peterman created a basic dress you could wear for a day on safari, by adding a scarf, cute heels and a fabulous piece of jewelry, same dress, now fancy takes you from safari to night club.

You get the idea. I created sauces that go well with everything. If you are a non-cook, sauces

like these will easily dress- up your Al Fresco summer grilling menus. If you love to cook, adding sauces to everyday cooking is a shortcut. Who knows you might do less cooking and accessorize more.

Herb Goddess Dressing

Makes 2 ¾ cups

1 1/2 cupsLight mayonnaise

1 cupLight sour cream

1/4 cupParsley,minced

3 tablespoonsGreen onion, minced

1 tablespoon Tarragon Wine Vinegar

2tablespoons anchovies,mashed well

1 smallGarlic clove, minced

1 tablespoonFresh tarragon leaves, minced

Salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, whisk well to combine.Cover and refrigerate.Remove from the refrigerator 1½ hours before using.

Reserve the remaining dressing for the rest of the week.

Spicy Tomato Jam

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of minced ginger

½ teaspoon chili flakes

½ cup homemade sundried tomatoes or use jarred rinse off any excess oil

1/3 cup white or rose wine to deglaze

½ cup coconut milk, canned

½ cupor less vegetable stock, homemade recipe attached

2 tablespoons honey

salt and white pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium sautépan over a low flame. Add onion, garlic, shallots, ginger and the chili flakes and cook until well browned and caramelized, for 15 minutes. Then add sun-dried tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine. When wine has evaporated, add the stock, coconut milk, honey and lower the heat to simmer the ingredients for about 15 minutes; let cool. Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Fresh Lemon Compote

2 Organic Lemons- seeded and thinly sliced

1/3 Cup Olive oil to sauté

2 Whole garlic cloves

½ teaspoon whole white peppercorns

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan- heat over a medium low flame and cook lemons in oil until they brown. Keeps in refrigerator for 3 weeks.

Preheat oven to 450 F.Place potatoes on a baking pan and bake until very soft, about 45minutes.Remove from oven and let cool.Peel and place potato in a small bowl; add goat cheese and whip to combine with an electric mixer.Set aside.

Preheat stovetop grill on a medium-high flame.Spray the grill with olive oil and Sear eggplant on both sides.Do the same with the rest of the vegetables.Searing each separately until nicely browned and softened. As they cook set aside the browned vegetables on a large baking pan.Vegetables should have grill marks on both sides.

Inviting friends for Sunday Brunch is my new favorite way to entertain.
Imagine twinning brunch and lunch into an easy make -ahead feast. The plan is to
make a few fabulous recipes that won’t require my eagle-eye attention during
the party. If I shop and prep everything on Saturday, then my weekend ‘feels’
somewhat stress free. By Sunday, I’m ready to start cooking and eager to get
the party started.

The
Farmers Market is the right place to shop, for ready -made goodies. I can’t go
home without fresh, sweet coconut granola, loaves of nut breads, coffee cakes, cookies and macaroons, ruby red strawberry jam and and jars of homemade pickles. My
culinary shopping spree includes every exotic seasonal fruit for slicing, plus
pommelos, tangelos and Cara Cara oranges for fresh juice. I snap up a
variety of roasted private reserve coffee beans
and my favorite green and lavender tea. Who can resist the fresh goat cheese with
such different toppings like basil flavored hummus and sun-dried tomato pesto.
Without too much effort on my part, I have gathered a festive array of top
quality products.

When the weather warms up, hearty composed winter salads makes everyone happy. An Asian Shrimp Noodle Bowl layered with cool
crunchy greens and thin rice noodles in a light,
lemony dressing: Chinese Chicken Salad restyled with
ingredients that Snap! Crackle! And Crunch! The real star of the trio is the
Fire-Cracker Steak Hand Rolls. They are
sweet and salty, fun to make and eat. This recipe sings to me. Everyone rolls
his own, into crisp ruffled lettuce leaves, slivers of colorful peppers and Maui onions.(The recipes for the Fire-cracker Steak hand-rolls and Asian Shrimp Noodle salad id featured at the end of this article.)

Chinese Chicken Salad

With a little help from the talented
artisans at our Farmers Market and this easy menu, put on your Sunday dress,
and enjoy yourself. The best part is
being with friends and eating too.Don’t
be surprised, more often than not, cozy afternoons like this, stretch straight into
the dinner hour. Be prepared, have all the fixings you’ll need to make stacks
of pancakes to go with the Fire-Cracker Steak with fried eggs!

Chinese Chicken Salad is a universally loved dish.For a change,place a big portionof the
dressed salad between two crispy wonton skins, one per person. Then diners chop
up the bottom layer of the wonton skin together with the salad. It’s pretty
cool… and tastes incredible too.

Ginger Dressing:Makes 6-8 servings

2 teaspoon dry mustard

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons soy sauce

6 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 tablespoons ginger, minced

1 tablespoon sesame Oil

2/3 cup oil

Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender, except for
the oils and whirl until smooth. Add oil drop by drop on a low pulse until the
dressing is thick and emulsified.

Salad Ingredients

Mai Fun Noodles

12 large Wonton skins

Macadamia Nut oil or Coconut oil to fry

4 scallions, sliced

½ each red and yellow pepper, finely diced

4 cups of shredded lettuce & Napa cabbage

12 oz roasted shredded chicken, skinless

Break Mai Fun noodles into 3 inch long pieces. Pour oil into
a wok about 4 inches deep. Heat on a high flame. When hot, dip a portion into
the hot oil- they will puff in a few seconds. Use 2 spoons to turn over all the
noodles so they cook evenly.

Remove from oil as soon as crackly and place on a paper
towel to drain.

Place wonton skins on a cutting board and cut into 6inch
circles with a biscuit cutter. Fry in the hot oil till crisp and lightly
browned on both sides. Remove from oil and drain.

Place scallion, peppers, shredded chicken, mixed greens and
cabbage in a large bowl and lightly toss the salad with just enough dressing to
moisten the leaves

To Serve: Place salad between 2 crispy wonton skins and
garnish the tops with the fried Mai Fun noodles.

Asian
shrimp and NoodleBowl

Everything in this salad is
addictive and healthful, even the dressing! You can make this salad in
individual bowls, one per person or in one gorgeous salad bowl. I love to make
this salad with fresh tuna poke as well. Just give the poke a quick stir-fry
just before serving and don’t forget serve the salad with chopsticks.

DressingMakes 6-8
servings

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon red chili flakes

½ cup sugar

½ cup fish sauce

8 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup water

Put the ingredients into a
jar with a lid and shake well to mix the ingredients. Set aside.

Salad Ingredients

1 package Saifun Noodles

18 large shrimp, cooked

5 cups mixed lettuce, torn
into bite size pieces

2 cups mung bean sprouts

2 Asian pears, thinly sliced

2 medium cucumber, thinly
sliced

1/3 bunch fresh mint leaves,
stemmed

3 carrots, peeled and sliced
into coins

1 daikon radish, peeled and
sliced into coins

Macadamia nuts, roasted and
chopped

Cook the Saifun noodles as
directed on the package, drain well in a strainer.

Layer the salad ingredients,
except the macadamia nuts in a large salad bowl.

Gently toss with just enough
dressing to moisten the leaves and garnish with the macadamia nuts.

Firecracker Steak Hand Rolls

The ingredients in the
marinade create a sweet and succulent flavor. I love the meat rolled in soft
lettuce, you can make it hearty and bundle the sliced meat and greens into soft
warm buns.

Makes
10 -12 rolls

1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar

1 cup Soy sauce

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

2 teaspoons crushed red chili
flakes

4 cloves garlic, finely
minced

1- 4inch piece fresh ginger,
peeled & finely chopped

2 pounds flank steak

1 head butter lettuce, washed
and thoroughly dried

2 scallions, separated into
thin strands

½ each red and yellow pepper,
thinly sliced

½ Maui onion, thinly sliced

Whisk together brown sugar,
soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and ¼ cup water in large
bowl. Add the flank steak and toss to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and
let marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight,
turning occasionally to coat.

Heat barbeque, Remove steak
from marinade, and grill the steak till desired doneness. Remove from the
grill, place on a cutting board and let sit to set juices.

To serve, Place slices of
steak into the lettuce and garnish with the pepper and Maui onion slices.

About Me

Secret Beach House

Go to secretbeachhouse.com to view my Hawaiian retreat on the island of Kauai. This home is available for rent year round. It is perfect for yoga retreats, family reunions, and romantic beach weddings. The house sleeps up to 18 guests. For more information and pictures click the Secret Beach House link listed above.

Edible Hawaiian Islands Magazine

I also write for an award winning magazine, Edible Hawaiian Islands. My seasonal column "Cooking Fresh" features island-style recipes and stories. You can access the magazine online or through digital subscription via the following link. EdibleHawaiianIslands.com